(Thursday, February 14, 2019 7:20:00 PM)
Knicks coach David Fizdale gives his team credit for not giving up during a losing streak that lasted nearly six weeks.
“I keep talking about this team’s character,” Fizdale said. “It would’ve been very easy for us to check out and get on to wherever we’re going to go, but we were desperate men….
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 7:26:43 PM)
For D’Angelo Russell, getting traded from the Lakers to the Nets in 2017 was a blessing in disguise. Russell has excelled with the team this season, leading the Nets in points, assists and minutes played through 59 games so far. â??I came here with open arms,â? Russell said, as relayed by Leo Sepkowitz of Bleacher […]
[Hoops Rumors] Fantasy Hoops: Knicks, DFS, Valentine’s Day Games (Thursday, February 14, 2019 4:09:49 PM)
Hoops Rumors wants to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s day and acknowledge those who continue to love the Knicks and stand by the team through all the hardship, drama, and overall disappointment. After a divorce with Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks have a path to add two max-level free agents this summer. Better times could be on the […]
[FOXsports] Knicks snap 18-game skid with win over Hawks (Thursday, February 14, 2019 10:13:05 PM)
The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-91 to snap a single-season, franchise record 18-game losing streak
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 10:18:57 PM)
The Knicks got the taste of victory for the first time in a month and a half, defeating the Hawks on the road, 106-91, on Thursday night.
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 8:28:11 PM)
The grim reality for New York Knicks fans is that their season truly continues on Tuesday, May 14, otherwise known as the day of the NBA Draft Lottery.
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 6:53:00 PM)
The Knicks visit the Hawks at 7:30 p.m. before the All-Star break begins.
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 12:47:53 PM)
Kyrie Irving can be a free agent after the season, and the idea that he could team up with fellow free agent Kevin Durant on the Knicks this summer has picked up steam. Here are the latest rumors…
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 10:36:56 AM)
Warriors star Kevin Durant can be a free agent after the season, and the idea that he could team up with fellow free agent Kyrie Irving on the Knicks this summer has picked up steam. Here are the latest rumors…
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 11:12:00 AM)
Dennis Smith Jr. exchanged words with Ben Simmons during the Knicks’ loss to the Sixers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. After the game, Smith weighed in.
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 10:58:38 PM)
The New York Knicks snapped their single-season franchise record 18-game losing streak on Thursday with a 106-91 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 5:09:25 PM)
ATLANTA — The Knicks no longer have their massive losing streak and no longer are the NBA’s worst team. Happy Valentine’s Day. When it was over, David Fizdale’s wife, Natasha, flew into the arms of a Knicks staffer. Indeed, her husband needed this night. In their final game before the All-Star break, the Knicks charged…
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 4:32:00 PM)
I’d surrender but I don’t know where to report. Years ago, government tried to cure us of the habit of referencing the disabled as “handicapped,” as in handicapped parking and handicapped entrances. Fine. “Handicapped” seemed cold, insensitive. So the new word for the disabled became “disabled.” Reasonable, functional, clear. Now, MLB, so people-sensitive as to…
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 4:14:13 PM)
ATLANTA — The Knicks are proud of being one of the pioneers — along with Dallas and San Antonio — in European scouting. They were one of the first organizations to employ a full-time European scout. Kevin Wilson was hired in 2000 and based in Barcelona. Before that, the Knicks had Tim Shea as their…
(Thursday, February 14, 2019 6:10:44 AM)
The Anthony Davis drama is not quite done, yet. The Celtics, according to The Sporting News, are frustrated with Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, because they believe his agency, Klutch Sports, is responsible for spreading the rumors of Kyrie Irving being interested in the Knicks this offseason. Those talks, along with Kevin Durant’s alleged New York…
[NYTimes] Knicks End Franchise-Worst Losing Streak With Win Over Hawks (Friday, February 15, 2019 4:38:49 AM)
Dennis Smith Jr. led with 19 points as the Knicks got their first victory since Jan. 4.
[NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: LeBron James Was Supposed to Make the Lakers Great. But When? (Thursday, February 14, 2019 9:08:52 PM)
Behind James, Los Angeles is embarking on the road back to N.B.A. dominance. But injury, erratic play and months of drama have a young core wondering when the fun begins.
17 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2019.02.15)”
Yup…DSJ is definitely Derrick Rose 2.0. I hope his knee doesn’t break down. In the 7 games since he’s joined the Knicks, I have yet to see a defense keep him out of the paint. When his jumper is falling he looks unguardable. I want Kyrie because he’s a much better shooter and he actually tries on defense, but at the same time I wanna see DSJ develop as a Knick. Can’t have both though..one has to go. If landing AD costs us DSJ, fine. But if we end up Brow-less, then I’d think real hard about making Kyrie a priority vs developing DSJ. Both have injury concerns that should be considered. Looking at DSJ’s potential makes it harder to say Kyrie or bust now. We’ll see how he plays once Mudiay and Ntilikina returns
Serious question – should Kadeem Allen be our starting PG?
He’s playing well but I think he might be a better fit as PG2 playing alongside Trier. What’s Fiz gonna do with Mudiay? He seems to have a good thing going with the current PG rotation
So if Mitch Lob stays healthy, stays on pace, and finishes the season top 5 in the entire NBA in FG% and top-5 in Blocks per Game what kind of recognition will he receive? How will that affect his reputation?
He wasn’t that good in the G league and he’s not young. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I think this is just a G league caliber player having a few good games and maybe earning a spot on a weaker NBA team.
I think Kadeem is a nice 2-way NBA backup PG…an above-average defender, low-usage, efficient, good ast/to ratio, plays within himself, good b-ball IQ. He apparently lost 30 pounds and is in much better shape than ever before, so maybe he’s a keeper at the vet’s minimum…not much above that, at least for now.
Random Mitch Stuff:
> Mitch has changed his agent yet again. I think he’s upset about not being selected to that rookie all-star team. He should be. He’s putting up historic stats for a rook.
> Fake Mitch aka Robert Williams has the greatest disparity ever in RPM vs BPM. He ranks 64th out of 65 centers on RPM (Bamba is 65th and WHG is 62nd) while sporting a 5.7 bpm & 20.1 PER. Mitch is 25th on RPM among centers at +.82.
> Mitch >> Tatum. I don’t believe this is even a subject of debate. If AD wants to be a Knick he should force his way here. Just state he’ll only sign an extension for Knicks. Lakers might call that bluff but maybe not if Kawhi is a Laker. Pels would still receive some young players to make #’s work and we’d throw in some picks. Lance’s 7m contract could be useful in any trade which could take place any time before July 1st.
When Mudiay is back who “deserves” to be the starting PG?
DSJ is younger, more athletic, was just the centerpiece in a trade for KP, and is under contract longer. So you can easily argue he’s the #1 prospect on the team. But on merit, I’m not buying that he’s been playing better than Mudiay so far (which of course is not a compliment to Mudiay).
Not that they need to be babysitters, but how do they pivot from “we’re gonna fix you Mudiay etc” to “oh nevermind.” Not that Mudiay was great or is owed anything but it comes off as BS artist.
Plans change. And there is no circumstance under which Mudiay should be in our plans anymore. Either we use all our cap space to sign two max FAs, or we strike out on landing Durant-plus, and we continue the rebuild with DSJ (younger, cheaper and already better) as our starting PG. We could even offer to release Mudiay to give him a chance to latch on elsewhere, since his Bird rights aren’t coming into play under any circumstance.
I mean, what about this season of the New York Knicks doesn’t come off as BS artist? The focus on “defense”, “eat what you kill”, “building a new culture”…
All the things Fizdale said should honestly be seen just as random PR, I don’t even think he believes in what he says most of the time. What should matter is that as a franchise we finally have some hope to go with, as there’s two possible scenarios that are very favorable to us (Zion and / or top free agents).
The rest is just stuff people say to fill media time.
There is no debate about who our starting PG should be. DSJ is our best point guard prospect and probably our best point guard, period.
Kadeem is set to be an RFA unless we sign him to a new contract before the offseason, right? It would be great if we could get him to sign a Trey Burke contract right now.
40 players from the 2017 draft class have played 500+ minutes and Frank Ntilikina’s WS48 ranks 40th among them, so while I hope he’s ahead of Mudiay in the rotation I’m not going to be able to gin up outrage if he’s not a major factor for Fizdale down the stretch.
That’s why I’ve referred to him as a snake oil salesman.
I’ve run into personalities like this in the past. Typically they are high level executives. They’ll take you through a presentation about the company and talk glowingly about the culture change, new direction of the company, great financial projections, etc.. You’ll come away feeling like this is going to be the greatest company in the world. Then 3 weeks later 3 of your best friends in the company (highly competent workers) get laid off, they suspend payments to everyone’s 401K, the stock is down 20%, and all hell is breaking loose.
I think part of “political” success in this world (not just actual politics but in business also) is being so wildly optimistic you border on delusional. Superiors, subordinates, and just people in general respond much better to optimistic delusions than uncomfortable truths. Every CEO I have ever known was wildly optimistic and exuded that kind of positivity no matter how badly things were going.
In the end though, the truth usually prevails (though usually not before the optimist has lined his pockets and moved on to the next gig).
Thing is, Fizdale has to say something. What’s he supposed to say? “Yeah, we just suck. Knox and Ntilikina are dumpster fires that I have to play.”
Maybe Fiz is a psychopath, but that’s reading a lot into a situation.
Strat, it seems like you’re projecting a lot of shit onto Fizdale. What exactly do you want him to say? Do you want him to be brutally honest about the players after every game?
“Yeah we lost tonight becaus Knox is just a horrible player. I’m not sure he was the right pick for us. He could improve but if you look at his advanced statistics, the chances of that happening are really slim. Mudiay is better this year than he’s been before, but even with his improvement, at best he’s a 3rd string point guard on an average NBA team. Dotson? He’s pretty good but he’s all ready 24 years old, so the odds of him getting better are slim. Frank is a decent team defender, but he’s so bad on offense right now that the path to him being a good NBA player is very slim. We just don’t have good players on this team right now.”
Is this what you expect him to say? Positivity is actually a necessity when you have a bad team full of 19 to 22 year old players in the NBA. Part of his job is to talk them up so that they themselves believe they can get better. Its one thing to call out a superstar player on a max contract when they mail it in. These are all young players making peanuts compared to most of their peers. Cut him some slack.
Really looking forward to the 1000 + posts about how we let Willy go for nothing when we decide to not resign Mudiay this summer.
Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that it took Kittles to show Mitch how to reduce his fouling? And that his defensive rebounding improved after Jordan got here? Does this not indicate a failure on the part of our coaching staff? And Frank/Hez/Baker/Trier/Knox are not exactly positive exhibits of our crack staff at work. Vonleh is regressing hard. Other than Mudiay, I think they’ve done a poor job at what they’re supposed to be focused on this season which is in stark contrast to Westchester staff.